Archive for the ‘David Stern’ Category

“The ad rates only go up if the ratings go up,” Stern said when pressed if ad dollars were a driving factor behind the late tip-offs. “The ratings only go up if there are more people watching and so NFL’s Monday Night Football, they moved it to 8 p.m. starts and fewer people watched. So they moved it to 9 because that’s where they were going to get the largest audience.”

Stern was then asked why the Super Bowl was scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start if the numbers showed more people tuned into NBA Finals games at the later hour.

“I don’t know,” Stern replied after a pause. “I don’t know why. I don’t know why … we have had three networks, CBS, ABC, and NBC who have told us that despite the maniacal rantings of East Coast radio, that we would get the largest aggregation of our fans if we do it as close to 9 p.m. as possible.”

Here’s the translation:

Advertisers dictate everything in the NBA. Those advertisers don’t really care about the kids, because they’re selling their products to the adults. They’re selling trucks and beer. The kids stuff gets sold on Saturday mornings. So to get the most adults that make enough money to buy stuff (oh…. like the 25-54 age group), the games start at a time where most of them will get a chance to watch TV. That’s 6pm Pacific (even the late ones will tune in by the second quarter) and 9pm Eastern (the West Coast stragglers will make up for the “gotta get to bed at 11” crowd).

So that’s that. Now… the only people out there that can make a difference are those of you with ratings boxes. I assume most, if not all, of us can watch the game an not affect the ratings because we don’t have the ratings boxes.

BUT… if any of you DO have a box… you CAN make a difference. Watch the games at a friend’s house or a bar. The ratings will show that you (and the thousands of people your ratings box entry represents) didn’t tune into the game. Obviously… you did tune in. But the box doesn’t know that. The box registers that the game was off.

It literally takes only a few people to shave full ratings points off the final numbers. It would be nice if that could happen… just to send the NBA a little message.

“It may be that these are the maniacal rantings of a fan from a different era, and I recognize that, but you know I’m sitting there waiting for the next cannon to go off, and then the fire heats up the arena so the temperature in the arena rises by 15 degrees — that’s if you can see it because you’re still waiting for the smoke, which is chemical, to clear, which is invariably done by the end of the half,” Stern said.

“But I always bite my tongue because I’m not the demographic that wants to be assaulted by loud rap, smoke, pyrotechnics and chemicals. It makes me sort of outdated, but I think it’s time for us to say, ‘Hey guys, let’s look at it one more time,'”

Look… what fan doesn’t want to sit there, sip on his tea, peer through his monocle and make quiet remarks that are barely audible over the squeaks of the sneakers?

By the way… did you know Greg is actually dating the girl in this picture?

Anyway. While people would be going insane over Greg’s knee problem, we’re somehow optimistic about Tony Allen’s completely reconstructed knee. In fact, he’s been cleared to play.

“(Allen’s) been cleared to play and do everything on the court,” said Ainge, in a phone interview. “We’ve been totally conservative. It takes time to get the confidence back. You worry about significant injuries, but I’m optimistic for Tony.”

Can you blow a whistle? Are you capable of spotting a hand slap from 40 feet away? Do you look ridiculous in tight pants? (Who doesn’t? I’m obviously talking about men) If so, you are advised to apply to the NBA because if Tim Donaghy sings like ESPN is reporting, David Stern is going to need a bunch more referees. Yup, Donaghy supposedly knows 20 refs or so, who have some connection to gambling. But didn’t the almighty Commissioner Stern refer to Donaghy as a ‘rogue, isolated criminal?” If this blows up, I hope some owners (don’t let me down Wyc) will step up and put pressure on Stern. He doesn’t deserve to skate on this issue if it’s proven several referees bet so much on Keno in Atlantic City.

The simple fact of the matter is that this is the ONLY thing going on in the NBA right now.

Yesterday David Stern held an news conerence that revealed that the NBA has a security force the size of the Marines… along with agents in every city. The only thing they’re missing is snipers in the rafters of every arena. The other notable outcome of yesterday’s news conference: Donaghy made $260,000 last year. That’s damn good. That’s almost as much as I make here at Red’s Army. If he was making that kind of money… one can only wonder how big the bets he made were.

“You think about the games of yours he worked, but I didn’t go into it too deep,” Rivers said. “It would have been more interesting if we’d had a good year and the different games had meant more because we were involved in a race or something. But with the year we had, I didn’t give it much thought.”

If the New York Daily News is right… David Stern and the NBA KNEW that Tim Donaghy had a gambling habit. They sent a private investigator to look into that gambling habit. And all the while, they let him referee games.

“(The private investigator) asked, ‘Does he gamble?’ ” said Kit Anstey, 60, a real estate agent in West Chester, Pa. “I said, ‘Yes.’ ” Anstey told the investigator — who said she worked for a local firm hired by the NBA — that Donaghy bet on golf games, neighborhood poker games and at an Atlantic City casino. The prober never asked Anstey whether Donaghy bet on pro basketball games.

Now… I’m a gambler myself. And if I were to be investigated by the Red’s Army corporate office… they’d find I go to a casino to play blackjack and I wager on the occasional golf hole. I even had money riding on my fishing trip yesterday (and thank you Mr. 32 pound striped bass… lucrative AND tasty). The point is… it’s possible the NBA might not have found evidence he bet on games. But they knew enough to look into his habits… so asking David Stern how much he knew is a legit question.

Tim Donaghy is going to help the feds with their investigation into his gambling activities. It’s the right thing to do… unless you’re in the mafia. Then it’s the wrong thing to do:

NBA referee Tim Donaghy, who’s being investigated by the FBI for betting on games he worked, had local lawmen at his Florida home Sunday because of threatening phone calls he’s received

Just a word of advice there Tim… becareful going through tollbooths… or else we’ll start calling you Sonny Corleone.

Donaghy is turning himself in tomorrow… then a couple of mob bookies are going to be hauled in. Then the NBA has to fix the image problem that its referees have. Of course… everyone thinks the image problem came up after this scandal… when it’s really been a problem for quite some time.

Here are 5 things smarter than the NBA waiting 3 days in between games 1 and 2 of the NBA Finals (especially after waiting 5 days to start the Finals):

1. Making Lindsay Lohan the designated driver.

2. Bringing Mel Gibson to a Bar Mitzvah

3. Making fun of Chuck Liddell’s mom

4. Unprotected sex with Paris Hilton

5. Putting Isaiah Thomas in charge of anything

What ever happened to a weekend afternoon game? Why can’t the NBA… or any other major sport figure out that marketing to kids is the way to keep your brand alive.

Hey morons… why don’t you take a step back from your ledgers and realize one thing: Cigarettes kill people. We know they kill people. We’ve known it for a long time. Yet they still exist… and they still make tons of money. You know why? Because THEY MARKETED TO KIDS AND GOT THEM HOOKED YOUNG!!! These NBA Finals are only slightly less deadly than smokes… so David Stern and his crew had better get their act together and start playing these games earlier and with more frequency. There is NO reason a finals game should be played on a Sunday at 9 when it could have been played on Saturday at 6. You’re trying to get kids hooked on LeBron… make him play when they can watch him. In the meantime… I and the rest of the adults will be watching the Sopranos… which will be infinitely more interesting than anything that happens in the Finals… unless LeBron whacks someone with a baseball bat at halftime and Tim Duncan opens a strip club in the lodge section.